It is well known in the construction of dwelling houses to locate rain gutters at the eaves of the roof to collect rain water and conduct it, through downspouts located at specific points along the gutter, to conduct the water to a specific location. The gutter thus provides a means to avoid the dripping of the water all along the edge onto people below, and avoids the directing an excessive accumulation of water into undesirable locations, such as the foundations of the house, flower beds, etc. The downspouts often lead out onto dry wells to conduct the water safely to areas which do not provide threats to the house""s foundation, or the grounds surrounding.
However, it i s further well known that such rain gutters are susceptible to clogging with leaves and other types of natural debris, which prevents the gutters from operating efficiently, or, in many instances, prevents them from operating at all. In addition, a clogged gutter, left clogged during the winter months, can cause or exacerbate ice dams, which cause leakage in the vicinity of the eaves into the interior of the house.
When clogging occurs, the owner of the house or his servant are generally required to ascend to the gutter, often using a ladder, and remove the accumulated debris by hand, an unpleasant, messy, and sometimes dangerous job.
A number of solutions to this problem of rain gutter clogging have been proposed, most of which involve shields or guards above the gutters which prevent most types of debris from entering the rain gutter. Examples of these covers, or guards, include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,269,592, 6,098,334, 6,016,631, 5,660,001, 5,911,659, 5,565,118, 4,435,925, and 4,404,775, these covers offer limited utility, and suffer from several major drawbacks.
First, due to the wide variety of gutter cross sectional shapes in use, it is difficult to design a universal cover that can be used on a wide variety of different gutter shapes. More importantly, however, debris, especially leaves and branches, can accumulate atop the cover, and fail to enter the gutter at all, thus defeating the purpose of the gutter. Furthermore, the cover prevents the natural flushing action of rainwater falling into the gutter, since the cover inhibits and attenuates the force of rainwater falling into the gutter.
The present invention avoids these problems by effecting a different approach.
The current invention uses a gutter cleaner which is essentially a screen or strainer permeable to water which lays within the gutter. A handle or pivot arm is accessible from the front of the gutter, and allows the user to rotate the screen above and forward of the gutter, dumping accumulated debris from the gutter onto the earth beneath. A series of such screens are affixed to the gutter, so that the user may periodically remove debris accumulating in the gutter by simply pulling on each handle in turn.
In another embodiment, a rain gutter assembly is constructed out of a series of adjacent, identical sections, each section having a length of between two and two and three feet in length. Attached to the inside of each section is a set of strainers, typically three in number, which conform to the inside of the rain gutter, and which collect the debris within the gutter. Each section has a discharge handle which, when pulled down, causes the set of strainers to rotate out of the gutter housing, and xe2x80x9cdumpxe2x80x9d the contents onto the ground below. Using the discharge handle, the strainers can be return to their quiescent position, within the housing of the gutter section.
In ranch, or other styles of single-story houses, the owner may be able to reach the discharge handle without climbing a ladder, either directly or by use of a rod or stick which hooks into a loop at the end of the handle.
The gutter assembly thus constructed attaches to the house in the same was as the standard, prior-art gutter, and provides a inexpensive and save way to keep the gutter clog-free.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a gutter section which can be assembled into a gutter assembly by attachment to other gutter sections, creating a rain gutter for a residence which can be easily cleaned of debris by the user with a minimum of effort, and without requiring the climbing of a later of other means of ascending the side of the house.
It is an alternative object of the present invention to provide a gutter cleaner which can be installed onto a gutter assembly already in place, which can be easily cleaned of debris by the user with a minimum of effort, and without requiring the climbing of a later of other means of ascending the side of the house.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, A self-cleaning gutter section includes a section body having an interior surface, a water-permeable screen within the interior surface and disposed in close proximity thereto, and means to rotate the screen out of the interior surface in a manner such that any debris captured by the screen will be expelled from the gutter section.
In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, the screen is attached to the section body by one or more hinges.
In accordance with a third aspect of the invention, t the means to rotate the screen further includes a handle having a front end, a back end, and a pivot point.
In accordance with a fourth aspect of the invention, the screen has a posterior member, in proximity to a back wall of the gutter section, and an anterior member, in proximity to an anterior wall of the gutter section. The handle is further attached at its back end to the posterior member, and the pivot point of the handle is disposed in proximity to a front wall of the gutter section.
In accordance with a fifth aspect of the invention, the screen further includes a bottom member, having a front edge and a back edge. The bottom member is, in turn, rotatably attached at its front edge to the anterior member, and at its back edge to the posterior member.
In accordance with a sixth aspect of the invention, each section has two end walls, one or more of which contain one or more orifices to permit water to communicate with an adjacent section.
In accordance with a seventh aspect of the invention, each end wall is attached to an adjacent end wall by either screws, rivets, or adhesives.
In accordance with an eighth aspect of the invention, a flange is disposed in proximity to the orifice at one end of the section, which matingly attaches to an orifice of an adjacent section, making a watertight connection between the adjacent sections.
In accordance with an eighth aspect of the invention, the pivot point contains a pivot ring attached, which rests on a lip of the front wall of the section.
In accordance with an eighth aspect of the invention, a multiplicity of sections are joined, each section joined at one end to an adjacent section forming a unitary structure as a result.
In accordance with a ninth aspect of the invention, a rain gutter cleaner, mountable on a building rain gutter which has a rain gutter body and an interior surface includes a water-permeable screen, fitting within the interior surface; and disposed in close proximity thereto, means to rotatably affix the screen to the body, and means to rotate the screen out of the interior surface in a manner such that any debris captured by the screen will be expelled from the gutter section.
In accordance with a tenth aspect of the invention, a self-cleaning gutter includes a rain gutter body with an interior surface, a multiplicity of water-permeable screens, each within the interior surface; and disposed in close proximity thereto, and means to rotate each screen out of the interior surface in a manner such that any debris captured by one of the screens will be expelled from the gutter section.
According to a final aspect of the invention, the rain gutter assembly includes one or more down spouts affixed to the bottom wall of one or more of the sections.